The Start menu is one of the most used features in Windows 10. It is our go-to when we need to search for something in the system or quickly access pinned content. However, it is often troublesome to find it stuck and won't open in the new version of Windows 10 system. Today I will mainly share with you how to restart the Windows start menu, and we will also discuss how to reset the "start" menu to the default settings. This refers to resetting the tiles and icons in the Start menu to their default settings without resetting the entire Windows operating system.
How to restart the start menu in Windows 10:
Like any other program or feature in Windows 10, the Start menu has processes running in the background. If the Start menu behaves strangely or becomes completely inaccessible, you can simply restart its associated processes without restarting your computer.
How to restart the Start menu using Task Manager:
You can restart the Start menu in Windows 10 simply by stopping the associated process in Task Manager and re-running it. Follow the steps below:
Right-click the taskbar and select Task Manager from the menu to open Task Manager, or use the Ctrl+Shift+Esc shortcut.
In the Processes tab, right-click the Startup process and select End Task from the context menu. Alternatively, select the Start process, then click End Task at the bottom right of the window.
After ending the task the start menu will disappear and the start menu process should restart automatically within the next few seconds. If it does not restart automatically, select New Task from Task Manager and enter the following command:
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C:\Windows\SystemApps\Microsoft.Windows.StartMenuExperienceHost_cw5n1h2txyewy\StartMenuExperienceHost.exe |
The Start menu should now be fully responsive and ready to use.
How to restart the Start menu using Command Prompt:
You can also use Command Prompt to accomplish the same tasks as above. Please follow the guidelines below:
Press Win+R to open the run window, enter CMD, and press Ctrl+Shift+Enter to open the command prompt with administrative privileges.
Now enter the following command:
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taskkill /im StartMenuExperienceHost.exe /f |
The process should then automatically rerun. If not, run it manually in Command Prompt with:
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start C:\Windows\SystemApps\Microsoft.Windows.StartMenuExperienceHost_cw5n1h2txyewy\StartMenuExperienceHost.exe |
If the Start menu is unresponsive or malfunctioning in Windows 10, there are two methods above that you can do.
How to reset the start menu in Windows 10:
Resetting the Start menu is an entirely different scenario, often confused with rebooting. As mentioned earlier, resetting the Start menu means resetting it to its default configuration, which you can change voluntarily, or it can be changed automatically by downloading a new app or through a preview build in the Insider program.
If the Start menu has become too complicated to navigate, follow the steps below to reset it and then reconfigure it from scratch using the steps below.
The process involves changing Windows Registry settings. Therefore, it is recommended to backup and create a restore point for your system.
Press Win+R to open the Run window, and enter regedit to open the Registry Editor.
Navigate to the following in the left pane:
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HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\CloudStore\Store\DefaultAccount |
Right-click DefaultAccount in the left pane and click Delete from the context menu to remove it completely.
Close Registry Editor, and then restart File Explorer to ensure that changes have been made to the system registry without rebooting the computer.
Now, when you reopen the Start menu, you'll notice that, as with a fresh install of Windows, all tiles have been reset to their default settings.